虽然西部联盟充满了能够在2020年NBA季后赛中取得成功的球队，但大多数人相信，洛杉矶湖人队和洛杉矶快船队将开会决定谁将进入NBA总决赛。
湖人队的战绩更好，但快船队在2019-20赛季的NBA联赛中赢得了两次正面交锋。
两队都有各自的优点和缺点，但快船队似乎比湖人队有一个优势，那就是深度。每支球队都有一对出色的全明星组合，但快船队补充了他们的像卢威廉姆斯，蒙特雷兹尔哈雷尔，兰德里沙米特，和最近收购的马库斯莫里斯。湖人的角色球员，如凯尔库兹马，丹尼格林，拉琼隆多和德怀特霍华德当然有能力，但也一直不稳定。
两支球队都将很快准备好参加赛季的拉开赛，希望能进行一场漫长的季后赛，而会议几乎是不可避免的。但如果到时候，NBA高管相信快船拥有优势，正如一位在《看台报道》中对埃里克·平卡斯（Eric Pincus）所说：
“湖人不可能在七场系列赛中击败快船，”一位东部联盟的高管说。
除了球队的深度关注外，一位总经理还指出了另一个问题，即为什么快船在系列赛中会受到青睐，以及他们是否有能力防守像卡维莱昂纳德这样的大边锋：
“卡希对丹尼·格林来说太强壮了。[凯尔]库兹马不能对他做任何事。我们已经看到他对KCP做了什么，”这位前总经理说。“勒布朗是湖人防守上最好的选择。他们将不得不在一个系列赛中做出牺牲，让勒布朗迎战卡希。”
在本赛季至今的两会上，格林在莱昂纳多身上做了一件令人钦佩的工作，让事情变得艰难，迫使莱昂纳多投进了他在挑战方面做得很好的困难球。然而，这位总经理是对的，因为詹姆斯显然是从身体角度为他辩护的最佳选择。
詹姆斯已经有这么多事情要做了，让他也为莱昂纳多辩护可能太多了，但如果NBA总决赛之旅即将到来，很难想象他会拒绝挑战。
如果湖人想增加一个新的选择，收购市场仍然是他们的一个选择。
原标题：
NBA Executives View Clippers As Favorites Over Lakers In Seven-Game Series
原文：
While the Western Conference is full of teams capable of making a run in the 2020 NBA playoffs, the belief among most is that the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers will meet to decide who will make the NBA Finals.
The Lakers have a better record, but the Clippers have won both head-to-head meetings during the 2019-20 NBA season.
Both teams have their positives and negatives, but one advantage the Clippers seem to have over the Lakers is depth. Each team has an outstanding All-Star duo, but the Clippers supplement theirs with the likes of Lou Williams, Montrezl Harrell, Landry Shamet, and the recently acquired Marcus Morris. The Lakers role players such as Kyle Kuzma, Danny Green, Rajon Rondo, and Dwight Howard are certainly capable but have also been inconsistent.
Both teams will soon be gearing up for the stretch run of the season in hopes of making a long playoff run and a meeting seems almost inevitable. But if that time comes, NBA executives believe the Clippers hold the advantage as one told Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report:
“There’s no way the Lakers beat the Clippers in a seven-game series,” an Eastern Conference executive said.
Aside from the team’s depth concerns, one general manager pointed to another problem as to why the Clippers should be favored in a series and it is their ability to defend a big wing like Kawhi Leonard:
“Kawhi is too strong for Danny Green. [Kyle] Kuzma can’t do anything against him. We’ve seen what he does to KCP,” the former general manager said. “LeBron is really the Lakers’ best option defensively. They’re going to have to sacrifice in a series and put LeBron on Kawhi.”
In the two meetings so far this season, Green has done an admirable job on Leonard, making things tough and forcing him into difficult shots that he has done a good job of challenging. This general manager is right, however, in that James is clearly the best option in defending him from a physicality standpoint.
With so much already on James’ plate, asking him to also defend Leonard may be too much but if a trip to the NBA Finals is on the line, it’s hard to imagine him turning away the challenge.
The buyout market is still an option for the Lakers if they want to potentially add another option.
